Bear Claws and Cultists
June 2015 (Thursday, March 12) GM: Keegan Hunters: Laurent Jess Randalf Magrathea Edu Laurent's Report My compatriots and I met in Islington, at the "Bear's Claw" bar, having all read about the hikers that had gone missing in the area and deciding to meet up (and where, when etc.) - three bodies had been recovered, and only one had an official cause of death - suicide. Edu and Randalf tried to find out if the locals knew anything, but were unable to obtain any meaningful information, except that if we were resolved to look into the matter, we should talk to the Sheriff. This seemed a sensible next step, so we found the Sheriff's office, and spoke to the Sheriff McBucky. He said that the one body whose death they'd ruled on had been suicide by hanging. Thoroughly disappointed with the townsfolk, and feeling like there might be something more than just missing hikers going on in the town, we went to the General Store to see if the storeowner knew what kind of equipment might be helpful. When we spoke to her, however, she told us about a cave at the base of the mountain, marked the location on a map for us, and and shared with us about how there was a tradition amonst the townsfolk of taking offerings to the cave, and that we should be careful. Of course, we had to buy much equipment from her to solicit this information, but it was a minor cost for such useful information. We then went to an abandoned library Randalf somehow knew about, in which we found a journal from another hunter who had been investigating the same phenomena as we had, but long before we had even been aware of the town. The hunter's journal spoke of a bear spirit - the entity to which they gave their offerings of passers-through. It being mid-afternoon by now, we thought it wise to find a lodging for the night. We booked into the local Motel 6, and settled quickly, planning to start early in the morning, so that we could reach the cave and come back before dark. Randalf took his own room, but Jess and Magrathea shared a room, as did Edu and I. At some point while we were sleeping, Edu and I were woken by some hooded figures, and in the ensuing scuffle, Edu and Jess were knocked unconscious, but the rest of us all left the hotel, and they were brought along as well. Still definitely night time, we drove away from town, aiming for the start of the trail where the disappearances had been occurring, with the plan of sleeping there, and then investigating come dawn. The rest of the night passed uneventfully, and we rose about an hour 'fore dawn, and prepared to leave immediately when the sun rose. The sun did rise, and we spent a few hours walking to the cave entrance, where we saw a massive footprint, and learned that there was a rather large bear which had been recieving offerings for longer than the town had existed. We also saw that the footprint was old, and that the bear was definitely not in the cave, so we decided to enter. Almost immediately, Edu couldn't handle the smell of the rotting flesh, and went back outside. We went a little further in, but then the rest of the city-dwellers (all of the rest of the group. All of them.) needed to take a break before carrying on, so I had to wait for them. Before waiting became too boring, though, Edu came running back into the cave, and was followed by the rather large bear we now knew was killing the "innocents". Randalf ran further into the cave, and as I got Melanie out, Magrathea took Defiler of the South out as well, and the bear was in sight. The fight didn't last long - a couple of shots, and a few swings downed the bear. Of course, Randalf insisted he and Jess (who ran off during the fight) managed to destroy the bear's spirit's totem or something, but I think he just didn't want us to think they were cowering. Who knows, though. Some of the things that happen these days. Edu's report Shortly after a chance encounter with some old friends and cousins so distant I hardly remembered them, heard some incredibly troubling and suspicious rumours from a reliable source, Sloppy Joe's. The rumours stated that many people had gone missing on a nearby hiking trail, and those who were found were ruled as suicide. Being curious and ultimately wanting to prevent further deaths, we were on the job! A nearby tavern, the "Bear's Claw", had some incredibly suspicious patrons. Lie after lie they told, and were eventually directed to the Sherif's office. I am not too fond of law enforcement, but our options were short. They also lied a lot and were uncooperative. Faith in the towns people was low so we decided to find things out on our own. Randalf found a haven in the town that another hunter had used in the past. Searching the archives and finding a dusty journal was much more informative. At this stage, we read about some interesting and what we thought was relevant information. It spoke of a bear spirit, and that the spirit sought souls of the villagers. We weren't prepared for the journey, so a nearby store set us up with tents, boots, GPS's and general camping supplies. The nice old store owner also mentioned an ominous cave and strongly advised against going here, but not being ones to trust the townsfolk, we knew exactly where we needed to go. The lovely lady marked it's location on a map so we knew where to avoid. Heh! Being late in the evening and not knowing the terrain, we felt it unsafe to make the hike and opted to go to the local motel for some rest. Some rest happened, then we were attacked. Standing above us, some cloaked figures. I was sharing a room with Laurent, and his shrill scream woke me right up. I managed to strike one with a knife in the arm before they overpowered me. All because I forgot my god-damn gun! Argh. Lets never do that again. I don't remember exactly what happened next, but I blacked out. Coming to, we were in Jess' car, at a camp site. The party explained what happened briefly. Cultist assassins, police chase, camp site. Randalf even had some footage of the encounters. I couldn't sleep, but I guess being chemically unconscious kind of counts as sleep, right? It being almost dawn, we set out towards the cave. Approaching the cave, a smell most foul came out. It couldn't be explained in any way other than 'death'. The size of foot prints alone was enough to confirm what lived here was big and fearsome. Laurent did some clairvoyant stuff and moments later, came back telling us about a huge bear living in this cave, being given sacrifices by a tribesman. We entered the cave, after someone had misread the footprints and thought it to be inside. The smell got worse as we advanced. I couldn't handle it and had to leave. As I emerged from the mouth, another mouth appeared above me. A bear. A really big bear! It had seen ages worth of battle, judging by the scars and fierce look in it's eyes. This was the corporeal form of the spirit bear we had read about, the bear Laurent had seen. I don't think I had ever ran so fast. Magrathea, Laurent and I fought it without any harm coming to us, but it seemed no harm befell it either. Next moment, it fell. Jess and Randalf tried to take credit, but I don't buy it. Before the bear died, Randalf whipped something up with his Juju bag, and the bear spoke. It said that it was only taking what it was given, and it was telling the truth. It didn't hunt people, nor did it like the idea. The true monsters here were the townspeople. Magrathea's report I was very glad to be reunited with my sister after the horrible things I'd seen happening in my dreams. For now, she was safe, but we wouldn't be safe for long because we were determined to find out more about the tip-off we got from Sloppy Joe's about a string of disappearances in rural Maine. Of course something bad was going to happen. I had a feeling about it right when we started this whole venture. It was good to see Laurent, Randalf and Edu as well. We all met up at the Bear's Claw to begin to gather information, but the townsfolk seemed very reticent about the missing hikers. I wasn't really expecting Sheriff McBucky to give us any information, but at least he was willing to talk to us for a bit. The lady who owned the outdoor supplies shop seemed only interested in taking our money. Luckily Randalf knew of a stash of knowledge in a nearby cabin, so we were able to find out a bit about what we might really be up against: a bear "spirit" that the local native people used to bring offerings to, who perhaps was a protector, who sought vengeance against those who harmed the land. Whatever that meant. It was too late in the day to go to the cave that the shopkeeper had told us about, so we called it a night and checked into the only motel in town. But in the middle of the night mysterious cloaked figures appeared and tried to attack us. I wanted to know what they wanted with us, but one of them had already drugged my sister so I decided to hit people first and ask questions later. Unfortunately, after we got everyone out safely, the only remaining assailant at the scene was dead. I am grateful to Laurent for his quick thinking and sharp shooting, and glad that the only harm we suffered was two of our party being knocked out for a few hours. We obviously weren't safe at the motel. When we were pulled over by another officer on our way to the campsite in the middle of the night, I thought for sure that she would detain us and leave us helpless to fend off further attacks from the townsfolk. The journal in the cabin had said to trust no one in the area. Luckily for us she seemed content to let us go on our way. We kept watch the rest of the night just in case. I still wonder what the townsfolk wanted with us, since they seemed intent on abduction rather than maiming or killing us, at least not immediately. But the only thing left to do was to go to the cave that might hold some answers. We found the bear spirit, but it had no answers for us. It was angry that we were encroaching on its territory, and so we were immediately put on the defensive, forced to subdue it somehow. No matter what we did it seemed unfazed, but then it suddenly collapsed. In its final moments Randalf quickly prepared a spell so that we could ask it a question, but since the creature said it had only taken what had been given to it, I think the bear was innocent of any evil designs. Who knows what the true motive of the townsfolk was for killing all those people. I am dissatisfied with the lack of answers, but at least my friends were not hurt.